1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a roof panel for an automotive vehicle, and more particularly to an improvement in the roof panel mounting assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous motor vehicle roof panel mounting arrangements and vehicular roof panel structures are known in the prior art and are widely used in the automotive industry. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,957,326 to Chiba et al., 6,347,829 to Hanyu, and 6,367,871 to Grimm et al. disclose a variety of roof panel modules and constructions for motor vehicles.
The ""326 patent to Chiba et al. shows a roof panel mounting structure wherein the roof panel is fixedly mounted on a vehicle body. The roof panel mounting structure includes a roof rail that forms a part of the vehicle body. Inner and outer panels, joined one with another form a hollow portion therebetween. The roof panel is made of plastic and integrally formed with a boss section projecting downwardly from the roof panel. A mounting bolt is inserted in the boss section and is secured to a reinforcement member to mount the roof panel on the vehicle body.
The ""829 patent to Hanyu shows a roof construction for an automotive vehicle. The construction includes a thermoplastic resin roof panel and a roof section of a body frame structure. The roof section has a wall inwardly of its periphery and a support flange extending from a lower end of the wall toward the periphery. The roof panel has an attachment flange on the support flange and is attached to the body frame structure by fastening elements.
The ""871 patent to Grimm et al. shows a roof module for a motor vehicle. The roof module includes an inner shell molded out of plastic foam. The inner shell is divided into an upper layer that can be supported on the body framework and a lower layer that serves to line the body framework. To improve and simplify assembly of the roof module on the vehicle body, it is suggested that the upper layer of roof module can be securely fixed to the body framework by fixing screws for sun visors and handholds.
An outsourced or in-house made roof panels and roof modules can save car manufacturers money and can also make the final assembly of automotive vehicles more simpler and cost effective. A variety of the roof panels can be manufactured and installed on the vehicle based on a particular demand of a consumer.
An era of modern technology introduced several ways to solve these problem by providing more efficient and economic methods for making plastic parts used in automotive industry such as plastic roofs, doors, headliners, etc., that can be easily switched from one to another based on consumer particular demand or fancy. However, one of the areas of continuous development and research is the area of more advanced ways to install and assembly parts to a body of a vehicle that is efficient, easy to use and reduces assembly time. Therefore, there is a need in the automotive art for a new, easy to use and install vehicle roof assembly.
A vehicle body assembly includes a roof defining an opening with a periphery. The roof panel is formed from organic polymeric material and has a peripheral edge. The vehicle body assembly is characterized by a clamping mechanism for clamping the edges of the roof panel to the periphery of the opening in sandwiched relationship to one another.
The present invention provides several advantages over the prior art patents including an effective and a quick way of fastening roof panel onto the body of the vehicle. Therefore, the present invention provides another vehicle body assembly that is efficient, not time consuming and easy to use.